We are thrilled to share the results for Q1 2018, ending March 31st. Here are our actions:

1. Host a conversation on unconscious bias

We were very pleased to recently welcome Miriam Bekkouche, as part our Busbud Talks series. Miram is a mindfulness expert who works with leading organizations such as Global Affairs Canada, Ardene and Newell in bringing mindfulness to the workplace.

Miriam’s talk examined some of the causes of unconscious biases, as well as pragmatic tactics and strategies to shift our beliefs at their root. This helps to build our awareness, sense of connection and ability to fully step into our roles as change catalysts for the benefit of ourselves, our relationships and the organizations we work in. Some of the topics we explored:

Science-tested techniques to identify and transform the obstacles of unconscious bias – especially with regards to gender and race

Algorithms of the mind & bias

Raising awareness for trends and undercurrents that keep bias in our blind spot

Reconnecting with our shared humanity

10 tactics that are scientifically proven to reduce unconscious bias

Mind the gap: from Me to We

Mindfulness expert Miriam Bekkouche speaking at Busbud

2. Participate on panel on Diversity in Product Management

Busbud product manager Carl was a panelist recently at a diversity-themed event at Product Tank Montreal, a community event focused sharing best practices in product management. Carl was able to share his views on diversity, as well as discuss some of Busbud’s diversity initiatives, in order to highlight the benefits of diverse thinking. Here is the description of the event:

Diversity is not only based on what we can see, but how people think and their background experience can have a strong impact on bringing new ideas, new perspectives to a product, and lead to innovation. This Product Tank will be the opportunity for our speakers to share their experience about: 1) What is diversity for them? 2) What biggest challenge did they face during their career? How did they manage it?, 3) What are the main benefits of diversity in product development?

Panel on diversity in product management

3. Making sure women interviewers are part of each interview loop

We’re constantly interviewing new potential members at Busbud. Our hiring process is quite structured and has many steps, but interview loops are typically composed of 3 Busbud team members. Although women were generally part of the loops on Busbud’s side, we wanted to make sure every loop had at least one woman as part of the mix. This way, no new potential hire (male or female) would be interviewed by 3 men. It’s a simple concept, but we definitely want to let our team’s diversity shine in the interview loop!

4. Adding a section on Diversity in our Team Handbook

As diversity is part of our DNA, and we’ve been actively working since January 2017 on our diversity initiative, it seemed natural to include a section about diversity in our Team Handbook. This handbook is a guide about life at Busbud and is issued to every new team member on their first day. The diversity section explains what we mean by “diversity”, as well as the projects we work on in order to promote it. This way, new team members understand the importance of diversity from day one.

The cover of Busbud’s Team Handbook

5. A diversity slideshow to get to know our team members

We are very proud of our diverse team here at Busbud and thought it was important to know more about each other, what makes us different and what our vision of a diverse community was. For that purpose, we created a small survey to learn more about our team and to brainstorm on future actions we could take to promote diversity in our community, inside and outside of Busbud. With the answers, we prepared a presentation with two sections: the first included a short and fun description of each team member and the second displayed ideas to continue our work on diversity.

The Busbud team!

6. Travel tips from our expert team about their country of origin

Starting in April 2018, various Busbud team members will author a post on Busbud’s blog providing travel tips and tricks about either the country they come from or a country they’ve lived in.

Busbud team members come from all places around the world. Representing 15 nationalities and having lived in 20+ countries, we thought they’d have some great travel tips. Also, we think it is a good learning experience for everyone at Busbud to get a chance to express themselves on a user facing platform. One rule for writing : Be yourself! And tell everyone how YOU would recommend travelling in that country.

Photo by Slava Bowman on Unsplash

7. Care package with local items for our trips abroad

The benefits of diversity come from the sharing of all the good things that make us… us! This year, Busbud has plans to bring part of its team to different countries in order to meet and work with some of its partners. This was the perfect opportunity for us to bring a little bit of our country with us and share it with our partners to thank them for receiving us and to encourage our local businesses all in one go! Our first packages contain products from 9 different Quebec province locations. We went the easy route and shared food items with a maple theme, hoping to please everyone with a sweet tooth!